Tag Archives: DC

#0770: Batman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BATMAN

BATMAN: CLASSIC TV SERIES (NECA)

Batman66a

So, can we just have it put down in writing that NECA are just the most successful bunch of miracle workers of all time? Because these dudes continue to do the seemingly impossible. Between Mattel and DC Collectibles, the DC license is pretty well tied up for most conventional scales. The best NECA could do was grab the ¼ scale license. That’s cool and their sculpts were always really well handled, but 18 inch figures can be a bit unwieldy for the average collector. NECA’s usual 7 inch scale works much better. Last year, through some crazy loopholery, they were able to get a Michael Keaton Batman released at the smaller scale, thanks to some help from Warner Brothers. This year, they’ve decided to top even themselves, offering three more DC figures, including today’s focus figure, Adam West as Batman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman66bBatman was released alongside Superman and Joker, but there isn’t really one overarching name for the line. He was produced by NECA and distributed as part of a DVD-based promotion by Warner Brothers. The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation. He is, of course, based on Adam West’s performance as the character in the 1960s Batman show. The other 7-inch figures are all more or less just scaled down versions of the 18 inch figures, but Batman’s been tweaked ever so slightly. It’s really just been done to change the articulation scheme. The 18 inch West had a few extra joints, which may not have translated quite as well to the smaller scale. It’s not a huge loss, though, since he’s still on par with the average NECA release, so he’s plenty posable. As far as the actual sculpt goes,this guy’s just fantastic. The likeness on the head is definitely West, and the cowl piece over top is a near perfect replica of that from the show. The body sculpt captures West’s build really nicely (something I felt the Hot Toys version was unable to do), and the level of detail and texturing on the costume is great. The only real drawback to this figure is the cape, which is just a simple piece of shiny blue fabric. Still, it hangs decently enough and looks alright, so it hardly ruins the figure. It seems impossible to talk about this figure without at least mentioning the Mattel version. I’ve included a comparison shot, because the level of difference between these two Batman66dhas to be seen to be believed. Absolutely night and day. Topping off this fantastic sculpt is a pretty awesome paint job. It’s not perfect, mind you. There’s a little bit of slop here and there, and I had to choose the better of the two available paint jobs. However, the overall look of this guy is just spot on, and there are several bits that sport some really great detail work. The 18 inch version of this guy came pretty well packed with extras. This guy understandably notches that back a bit, but he still has a spare set of hands in gripping/relaxed poses, a batarang, and a bat-radio transmitter. That’s a pretty good selection.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Somewhat unusually for someone my age, I love the 60s Batman show. I was really excited when Mattel announced their line of 6 inch figures, but was ultimately a bit let down by the final product. So, when word broke about NECA’s version hitting Toys R Us, I ran right out to get this guy, and lucked into one on my first stop. Little did I know he’d be such a hot commodity. It’s understandable, because this is easily the best figure of West as Batman available.

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#0768: Captain Cold

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CAPTAIN COLD

THE FLASH (DC COLLECTIBLES)

CapCold1

Well, CW’s The Flash successfully made its way all the way through its first season and is now halfway through its second. It’s not a perfect show (few shows are), but it’s been a lot of fun, just all throughout. The series’ cast of regular characters have a lot to do with that, but they don’t do it all on their own; they get by with a little help from their… guest stars, who, more often than not, are playing members of the Flash’s oh so awesome rogues gallery. One of the most prominent, most recurring of those rogues is Captain Cold, who’s proved to be quite the popular character. He’s even getting an expanded role on the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow spin-off. So, what better to celebrate that than an awesome action figure?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CapCold2Captain Cold was released earlier this year as figure 02 in DC Collectibles’ The Flash line. He follows the Flash, and precedes his frequent partner in crime, Heatwave. The figures stands about 6 ¾ inches tall (he’s just a little taller than Flash) and has 30 points of articulation. The range of motion on the joints is a little restricted, but I found Cold to be easier to pose than Flash, so that’s good. Captain Cold is based on his most frequent appearance from the show, which is his fur-lined blue parka look. It’s a pretty nice callback to his comics design, while still being reasonably practical in a real world setting. This figure’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s pretty reasonably handled, though it isn’t without its drawbacks. The articulation is mostly worked in well, but the ankle joints are a little rough, and his feet almost look like they belong on another figure. Also, there’s no way that this guy can get his arms close enough to his chest for a two-handed hold on his gun, so you’ll just have to pick one side or another. The hood is probably my least favorite aspect of the figure. It’s permanently up, for one thing. You can sort of pull it back behind his head, but it’ll want to go back into place. I feel the figure might have been helped by a separate hood piece that could be swapped for one that was folded down. Plus, the fur lining looks more like a poor CGI rendering of a fur lining than the real thing. The rest of the sculpt is actually pretty good. The texturing on the clothing is very nicely handled, and there’s a fully detailed shirt under the coat. The head gives us a pretty spot-on likeness of Cold’s actor, Wentworth Miller. He doesn’t quite have Miller’s intense stare, but I think that’s more a result of the goggles. Cold’s paintwork isn’t the most exciting paint ever, but it’s quite nicely done. Everything’s pretty clean, and there’s lots of nice accent work for the sculpt’s finer details. Captain Cold is packed with his trusty cold gun, as well as two pairs of hands (gripping and fists).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually wasn’t sure I was going to get Captain Cold when he was announced, and even less sure after not being wowed by The Flash figure DCC put out, but I really found myself liking the character on the show a whole lot. So, when he showed up at my local comic book store, I happily picked him up. I’m glad I stuck with the line. Cold still isn’t a perfect figure, but he’s a definite step up from Flash, and shows that the line is definitely going in the right direction. I can’t wait to see who else we get!

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#0767: Batman Beyond

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

BATMAN BEYOND

DC COMICS MULTIVERSE (MATTEL)

BatBeyondDCM1

Uh oh. It’s a Mattel figure. This can’t be good. Okay, that’s not entirely true or fair. Mattel figures have the potential to be good, or even on the rare occasion great. In fact, most are at least passable, but some aren’t. And also, I don’t like Mattel as a company, for a whole slew of reasons, chief among them being that a whole lot of their products just feel so lazy. In fact, in the last year, I believe I’ve bought a whole four Mattel figures, mostly due to the vast majority of their output being rather dull. One of those four figures is today’s entry, Batman Beyond. Let’s see how he turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatBeyondDCM2Batman Beyond is part of Mattel’s DC Comics Multiverse line. The line doesn’t really have traditional series to speak of, but BB was released in the last year of the line. He’s part of the Arkham City sub-set, and is based on one of the alt looks for Batman from the game, rather than being an actual Terry McGuinness Batman Beyond. The figure stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 18 points of articulation. The layout of the articulation is the same as both the Christopher Reeve Superman and Arkham Knight Robin figures. It’s not the worst articulation ever, but it could really, really use some sort of upper arm swivel and a mid-torso joint. The current layout leaves him a little stiff looking. In general, the sculpt of this figure feels pretty stiff and somewhat oddly proportioned. Some of that, such as the small head and larger hands, are at least partly present in the game design, but some of it’s just weird sculpting. Like Robin and Superman before him, the figure’s waist just sits too low, which looks really odd. Also, it looks like BB’s got at least a few parts in common with several of the previous Batmen. Because of this, he still has the usual Batman boots, which aren’t accurate to the design, as well as a weird shoulder piece that looks like it should have a cape or something attached, but it doesn’t, which is reasonable, since BB’s not supposed to have a cape anyway. Since one of the draws of Batman Beyond is his sleek design, these issues with the re-used pieces jump out a lot more than they would otherwise. BB does get his own head, belt, and forearms, which all do a pretty great job of capturing those parts of his design, and blend pretty decently with the rest of the sculpt. BB’s paint is one of his stronger suits. Everything is pretty cleanly handled, and his emblem in particular is nice and crisp, and really stands out well from the rest of the figure. BB has no accessories, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a Multiverse figure, but remains annoying given the price of the figure and the fact that he re-uses quite a few pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember how I was done with DC Comics Multiverse? Yeah, that seems increasingly incorrect. When I was down in North Carolina visiting family, I ended up finding this guy on a grocery run. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Batman Beyond design, and Super Awesome Girlfriend was there with me, so there really wasn’t a chance I was saying no to this one. He’s a flawed figure to be sure, and definitely reminds me of why I don’t really do Mattel figures anymore, but he’s Batman Beyond, which does a lot to outweigh some of the cons.

#0762: Arkham Knight

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ARKHAM KNIGHT

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (PLAY ARTS KAI)

ArkKnight1

When I was first starting to duck my head into the whole video game thing, I tended to stick to games based on properties with which I was already familiar. That meant I stuck with comic books and super heroes a lot of the time. Comic book-based video games have a reputation in the past of not always being the best they could. That being said, in the last few years, a few have been a bit better received, such as the Batman: Arkham games. The third (main) installment in that series, Arkham Knight was released earlier this year, and received a number of toy tie-ins. Today, I’ll be looking at one of the figures of the titular antagonist, the Arkham Knight.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ArkKnight4Arkham Knight is the third figure in Play Arts Kai’s Batman: Arkham Knight line. He was released in September of 2015. The figure stands about 10 inches tall and has 49 points of articulation. The posablity on the figure is generally pretty great, though it’s worth noting that the joints are ratcheted, which can make moving them a little bit tough at first. He gets an all-new sculpt, based on the character’s appearance in the game. Well, more or less, anyway. Play Arts Kai has added their usual dash of stylization, in order to keep him consistent with their other figures, but the design is pretty much unchanged. It’s a pretty solid design, overall, and it’s got a cool “anti-Batman” vibe to it. The sculpt does a good job of translating the design into a real, physical object. There’s plenty of detailing, especially on the armored parts, and everything’s nice and sharp. He’s got softer rubber pieces for his upper torso, shoulder pads, and belt, all of which are very well sculpted and add a nice level of depth to the figure. The folds in the fabric portions of his costume (mostly the pants) are sculpted very dynamically, which definitely gives the figure ArkKnight3a sharp look, if not a super realistic one. The sculpt does a good job overall of integrating the articulation, though some areas, such as the wrists, are a little more obviously joints, and other joints will leave odd parts of the underlying sculpt exposed. Arkham Knight’s paint work is very nicely executed. Everything is pretty cleanly applied, and there are a lot of nice subtleties that add a lot to the figure. The faceplate of the helmet is definitely my favorite part; it’s cast in a semi-translucent dark blue plastic. The eyes on the helmet are set just a slight bit lower than they would be on a normal person (since they’re actually just HUD representations of eyes, not the real thing), which gives AK this weirdly unnerving quality. The figure is packed with a pair of handguns, a larger gun (which, I believe is meant to be a combined version of the two smaller ones, in-game), an extra folded up front grip for the larger gun, an extra head without the clear faceplate and HUD eyes, four pairs of hands (fists, trigger finger, relaxed, and open), and an articulated display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I haven’t actually played any of the Arkham games, but I’ve picked up a few of the figures here and there. I though Arkham Knight had a pretty cool design, so I was looking to pick up one of his figures. I had originally intended to get the DC Collectibles version, but I ended up deciding to pick up this guy when I found him at Baltimore Comic-Con (in no small part due to some pushing by Tim). He’s my first Play Arts Kai figure, and he’s a lot of fun. I’m definitely glad I decided to get him.

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#0751: Batman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BATMAN

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DC COLLECTIBLES)

BatmanTAS4

Hey, do you guys remember how last year DC Collectibles debuted their line of super awesome figures based on Batman: The Animated Series? And do you remember when I reviewed the first figure in the line, which was Batman? And how I noted that he was actually Batman from the second incarnation of the show? And then I pointed out that the original design was slated for release later on in the line? Are you getting tired of these questions? Me too. So, yeah, the original Batman: The Animated Series Batman figure is finally here. Let’s see how it turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatmanTAS6Batman is figure #13 in DC Collectibles’ Batman: Animated line. Technically, this makes him the first figure in Series 4 of the line, but it seems DCC has completely given up on releasing these in actual assortments, so Batman shipped out on his own, though a few other figures arrived in the surrounding weeks. The figure is just shy of 6 ½ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. The figure lacks the usual swivel joint on the lower leg, which is quite a pain when it comes to posing or even just trying to get him to stand, and also leaves him eternally pigeon-toed. The boots are even separate from the rest of the leg, so it looks like there should be movement, but there’s not. Batman’s sculpt has the task of translating a 2D character model into 3D, which is certainly not easy. From the neck down, the figure works pretty well. Everything seems proportioned right, and he’s more or less identical to the guy we saw on the screen. He seems a little on the small side compared to some of the other figures, but not terribly so. What about the head? Well, it’s hard to say. The prototype looked pretty dead on, but this doesn’t seem to have made it to the final figure. The shape of the eyes in particular seems off, and they feel way too small. It’s possible it’s a paint issue, so it’s hard to judge the accuracy of the sculpt. This figure only gets one cape, in contrast to the two included with the last Batman; all we get is the swept back look. To be fair, this is the preferred of the two looks, and the cape is accurate to the source material, but the option BatmanTAS7would have been nice. This figure makes out okay paint-wise. There’s the previously mentioned issue with the eyes, but other than that, the paint is pretty clean, and they seem to have done a pretty good job matching the colors from the show. Batman is packed with a B:TAS accurate batarang, a grappling hook, 7 hands (a pair of fists, a pair of basic grip, a pair for holding the batarang, and one with the grappling hook sculpted in place), and a display stand with his character design sheet printed on it. It’s not quite as much as was included with the last Batman, but it’s still a pretty impressive allotment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Batman was purchased from my local comic store, Cosmic Comix. They had just gotten him and Poison Ivy in and I only had the money for one, so I went with him (I went back for Ivy later). I was pretty eager to get this figure when it was announced, what with it being my Batman and all, but I have to say, I was…disappointed with the final product. It really sucks to have to say that, to be totally honest, but it’s true. He’s not a bad figure, but the issues with the head and lack of movement in the legs hold him back. On any other figure, this might be forgivable, but on the definitive Batman, it’s a pretty big letdown. This figure is supposed to be repackaged with a new head in a two-pack with Phantasm early next year. It would be nice if DCC could fix the issues for that release. Until then, this guy’s certainly serviceable.

BatmanTAS2

#0728: Atom

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ATOM

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

AtomGADCUC1

Sometimes, there are really, really cool figures of characters you like, that are held back by one tiny but hard to overlook flaw. Today, I’ll be looking at such a figure. I’ll get to the “why” of it in just a bit.

So, in the second season premier for The Flash, Barry fought a guy called Atom Smasher, aka Albert Rothstein. Rothstein comes from Earth 2, which was the home of the original 40s DC Comics characters. He’s also the godson of the original Atom, aka Al Pratt, who is the focus of today’s review. Unlike the later versions of Atom, who possessed the ability to shrink down to sub-atomic size (not unlike Marvel’s Ant-Man), Al was just a kind of short guy who was a good fighter. He was eventually given an assortment of powers after the fact, but those were kind of a retcon. Amongst other things, he served as a prototype for Justice Guild member Tom Turbine, from the Justice League episode “Legends.” And, he got a figure as part of one of the last series of DC Universe Classics. Yay for him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AtomGADCUC2Atom was released as part of Series 19 of Mattel’s DC Universe Classics, which was a whole series themed around the Justice Society of America, of which ol’ Al here was a member. Atom is presented here in his original costume from the 40s, which is definitely his more definitive of his two main looks. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 23 points of articulation. See that height? Remember when I mentioned he was a short guy? Yeah, Al’s listed height is 5’ 1”, which, in DCUC terms, should make this guy about 5 ½ inches tall. So, he’s about an inch too tall. This is because Atom is built on the larger male body (the same one used on the water-camo Aquaman from Series 7). Proportionally, it’s the best body Mattel had on hand; Al’s a pretty stacked guy; but it’s just too tall. It’s kind of a no-win scenario. A character like Al isn’t really privy to an all-new body sculpt, especially in a buck-based line like DCUC, so Mattel had to make due. Moving away from the size thing, Atom has a brand new head, forearms, abdomen, and shins. These are all nicely sculpted parts, and the buckles on the arms and abdomen are an especially nice touch, since they could have easily been painted on. The shins are a little bit shorter than previous pieces, so Mattel was clearly trying a little, but it’s not really a very noticeable difference. The cape is from Series 12’s Dr. Mid-Nite figure; it’s not a perfect match, but it’s close enough, and it’s a well-sculpted piece, so I can’t complain. For some reason, it sits out a bit from his back, which is a tad frustrating.  The paintwork on Atom is some of the best from this line. Some of the line work is fuzzy, but it’s pretty clean overall. The color work is really nice; everything is bold and vibrant, and he really just pops. The brown parts are meant to be leather, and so they’ve been given a slightly darker brown dry brushing, which is actually really effective in conveying the different texturing. Atom didn’t include any of his own accessories, but he did include the head and pelvis of STRIPE, the Collect-N-Connect figure for this series.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The golden age Atom has long been one of my favorite JSA members. I was always a bit disappointed by DC Direct’s less than stellar attempt at the character, so I was intrigued by the DC Universe Classics version. I ended up finding this guy not long after he was released, while on a run to a nearby Target with my Dad. His size put me off at first, but the realization that this was probably the best version of the character I’d ever see in plastic, I went for it. I’m really happy I decided to get him, because, size issues aside, he’s actually a really nice figure.

#0709: Starman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

STARMAN

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED

StarmanJLU1

Growing up, I was much more a DC fan than a Marvel fan*. This was due in no small part to my primary exposure to the DC Universe being at the hands of the various animated series, courtesy of Bruce Timm and company. For many (though not necessarily for me), the high point of the DCAU was Justice League Unlimited, which offered tales staring characters from every corner of the DC Universe, barring the more mature Vertigo stuff. Tons of characters appeared on the show in its two seasons, with some taking on actual roles in the story, but most ending up as little more than scenery. Today’s focus, Starman, was part of that second group. Also, he has absolutely nothing to do with the Jeff Bridges film, just to be clear.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

StarmanJLU2Starman was actually one of the earliest figures in Mattel’s JLU line, being part of the first assortment of figures. He was available two ways: on his own with a cosmic staff accessory or packed with Superman and Amazo, in a set based around the episode “The Return.” My figure comes from the set with Amazo and Superman. Starman doesn’t figure into the plot of “The Return” in any prominent way, but he is one of the many characters who gets a brief focus during the initial fight with Amazo. There have been many versions of Starman over the years, and this one’s based on the Prince Gavin version of the character, who starred in Adventure Comics during the 70s. The figure stands roughly 4 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Starting with the first series of JLU, Mattel implemented one of their signature buck systems, in order to make producing the multitudes of characters appearing on screen just a little bit easier. Starman is built on the medium-sized body, which was a retooled version of the Justice League line’s Green Lantern body. It’s a good translation of the body style from the show, and it’s a good fit for Starman. One small drawback of this particular body is that one of the legs is shorter than the other, meaning he stands with a slight tilt. It’s a minor issue, but it’s one that affected every figure that used this body. Starman gets his own unique head sculpt, which is probably one of my favorites from the line. It replicates his wacky hair pretty well and features a lot of really sharp line work on the facial features. It’s a great translation of the animation model for the character. The paint takes up the bulk of the work in conveying his costume, which it does pretty nicely. The colors are nice and bold, and the line work is all pretty clean. The multi-pack version of Starman didn’t have accessories, unless you want to count Superman and Amazo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The three-pack that contained Starman was my second item from the JLU line. The line was still pretty hard to find, so I ended up trading the Doombot from Marvel Legends of all things to get it. Perhaps not the greatest trade in the long run, but I already had a Doombot, so I didn’t mind. Starman remains one of my favorite figures from the line. I’ve always liked Gavin’s design, and it’s not like he’s got an excess of figures. This one captures the design quite nicely, which is awesome!

*Okay, that’s not entirely true. I was a pretty big Marvel fan during the back half of the 90s. It was the early 00s that turned me away from the company, before the Marvel Studios movies brought me back.

#0684: Catwoman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CATWOMAN

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

CatwomanLH

A few of Batman’s foes have a tendency to go back and forth across the line of friend or foe, but none more so than Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. She’s one of the Bat’s oldest enemies (debuting in the same issue as the Joker), but she rarely stays on his bad side for too long. In addition to switching sides a lot, she also gives the Wasp a run for her money in terms of number of costumes. She’s been in the leather catsuit for a while, but before that she seemed to be changing costumes just about every week. She did manage to keep roughly the same look for most of the 90s, and that look’s gotten a handful of figures (including my very first Catwoman figure). Let’s look at one of those figures, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CatwomanLHWilsonCatwoman was released in the first series of DC Direct’s Batman: The Long Halloween. The series was based on the comic of the same name, which featured the work of artist Tim Sale (who’s one of my favorite Batman artists). It follows that Catwoman is based on Sale’s interpretation of the character, as she appeared in that series. She’s essentially wearing her purple bodysuit costume from the 90s, with a few tweaks. The figure is just shy of 6 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation. That’s not a lot of movement, but it was above average at the time of this figure’s release. Still, she’s not going to get into any poses more creative than a basic standing look. Catwoman featured an all-new sculpt, which has remained unique to this particular figure. DC Direct definitely had some trouble translating Sale’s artwork into three dimensions on several of the figures in this line, but Catwoman actually ended up with a pretty great sculpt. She manages to capture Sale’s style without being too cartoony or odd looking. The head is probably the most stylized part of the figure. Sale had a fairly distinctive take on Selina’s mask, and it’s been translated very nicely here. She’s missing her whiskers, but those probably would have looked silly in three dimensions, and they were absent from a lot of the silhouettes. That face is definitely a Sale face. The proportions of the body are pretty decently handled; she’s still somewhat stylized, but not absurdly so. The boots and gloves exhibit some of the best work on the figure, with some of the best sculpted wrinkles I’ve ever seen. Seriously, those wrinkles are fantastic. It’s a weird element to focus on, but it really impresses me. The bracelets on the wrists are actual, metal rings, which is a cool touch (though, I seriously have to question the practicality of such accessories on a burglar…). The tail is really the only part of the figure that’s just “ehh,” and that’s really just because it’s not in any way posable. Catwoman’s paintwork is pretty straight forward, but it’s nicely handled. The face paint does a nice job of accenting the “Sale-ness” of the sculpt. The glossy paint on the gloves and boots is also a nice way of breaking up those parts from the rest of the body, so that’s cool. Catwoman was packed with a pair of night vision goggles, a whip, a calendar page (February 14th, for those who are curious), and a display stand that looks like a section of pavement. Of course, I’ve misplaced all of those over time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this figure was first announced, I didn’t want it. The prototype shots looked really odd, especially the head. Then my comic book store was running a sale on DC Direct figures, and she was marked down to like $5, at which point I realized I didn’t yet own a Catwoman in this scale and figured I could do a lot worse for five bucks. Oh boy could I have done worse. In hand, this is probably one of the best Catwoman figures out there. Sure, the articulation could be better, but the figure is just a great looking figure.

#0681: Mercury

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MERCURY

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

MercuryDCUC1

It’s been 160 reviews since my last DC Universe Classics review. Guess I’ll fix that then. So, one of the coolest things about DC Universe Classics was just how obscure they went with the line. For all the crap I give Mattel about their various practices, they built a successful line that ran for 21 series and gave us the likes of Kamandi and Cyclotron. That’s downright impressive. It is also the only DC line to date to give us a full line-up of the Metal Men, who are one of DC’s cooler off-kilter teams from the 60s. So, let’s look at the team’s resident jerk with a heart of jerk, Mercury. He’s the only metal who’s liquid at room temperature!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MercuryDCUC2Mercury was released as part of the 16th Series of DC Universe Classics. He was the third member of the Metal Men to be released, and the last member to be released at retail. Way to go Mercury, you ruined it for everybody. The figure is 6 ¼ inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Mercury was another figure built on the skinny buck. I know that the first “skinny” character was Deadman in Series 11, but I think 16 was the first series to use this slightly improved iteration of the body. While he uses the base as a starting point, Mercury actually has a fair number of non-standard parts. The best piece if the figure is definitely the head, which does a fantastic job of capturing the character. His expression is just perfect for Mercury, and they’ve really nailed the exaggerated proportions. The extended nose is a separate piece from the face, so there’s a noticeable seam if you look closely, but from a normal viewing distance, it’s unnoticeable. The rest of the body works pretty well for Mercury; a lot of the wackier proportions that looked out of place on other characters look perfect here. Mercury’s paintwork is somewhat deceptive. The previous two Metal Men were just straight metallic colors, so when I first saw Mercury, I was disappointed that he was just a flat red. But, after taking him out of the package, I realized the red was actually pearlescent, which is actually really impressive looking, and gives him a nice unique feel. Mercury included an extra hand made to look like it’s morphing into a giant pair of scissors, which is a pretty awesome way of showcasing his powers (they’re even articulated!). He also included the torso of Bane, the Collect-N-Connect for Series 16.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 16 was one of the few series of DC Universe Classics that I found mostly in one shot at retail. However, I didn’t get the first Mercury I found; it went to my Dad, who’s a bigger Metal Men fan then I. Fortunately, I came across another Mercury not long after, and here he is. For me, Mercury represents some of the best work DCUC had to offer. He’s a fun, obscure character, on the right body, with a superb head sculpt, solid paintwork, and a well-executed accessory.

#0670: X-Ray Vision Superman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

X-RAY VISION SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

XRaySupes1

Remeber last week when I looked at one of the wacky Superman variants from Kenner’s tie in line for the 90s cartoon?  Well, that one wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.  At least he was somewhat passable as a basic Superman.  Today’s figure? Less so.  Without further ado, here’s X-Ray Vision Superman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

XRaySupes2X-Ray Vision Superman was released as part of the fourth series of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series, the story of which I covered in Power Swing Superman’s review.  He’s another of the frivolous Superman variants designed to showcase Superman’s less obvious power set.  Yay?  The figure is 5 inches tall and he features 6 points of articulation.  He sports a unique sculpt.  It’s not quite show accurate, but it’s in line with the all of the other Animated Series figures, so at least it’s consistent.  It’s nowhere near as extreme in pose as Power Swing Superman, but he’s still a bit removed from a standard standing pose.  The most out there part is definitely the throwing arm, which is permanently outstretched and at a 90 degree angle.  That’s a bit on the awkward side, but it works okay with the accessories.  The rest of the sculpt is more standard fare: fairly simple musculature and decent enough proportions.  The head sculpt isn’t as good as the PS Superman, but that’s mostly due to the “action feature.”   What is this action feature?  Well, he’s got light piping, so as to light up his eyes and simulate his…X-Ray vision.  I think they may have gotten confused with his heat vision.  The paintwork is where the figure really gets wonky.  In lieu of the traditional Superman colors, this figure is primarily a red-orange-yellow gradient.  It’s a very warm look, which once again makes me think someone at Kenner kept mixing up heat vision and X-Ray vision when designing this guy.  That said, it’s a unique look, so I actually can’t complain.  The cape has been swapped to blue, I guess to break up the reds a bit.  Overall, the paint is pretty decently applied, with no real slop or anything and lots of nice, bold colors.  Superman is packed with a bundle of dynamite, as well as a safe to hide it in.  The safe is partially translucent, so as to demonstrate Superman’s power.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like his series-mate, I picked this Superman up from Yesterday’s Fun. He was another one of the wacky Supermen that had intrigued me all those years ago.  In fact, he has the notoriety of being the very last thing I bought on vacation.  He’s not quite as much fun as Power Swing, but he’s not too bad.  And, as an added bonus , paired up with Power Swing, you get a pretty decent Silver Age Superman Blue and Red.

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